A common method of measuring the concentration of a specific component in a body fluid, for example glucose in blood, uses a redox reaction with an oxidoreductase as a catalyst. Moreover, simple blood sugar level measuring apparatuses of a size that will fit in the palm of the hand have become widely used so that blood sugar level can be measured easily at home, at a travel destination, and soon. With such a simple blood sugar level measuring apparatus, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 4-357449, a biosensor that provides an enzyme reaction site and is constituted so as to be disposable is installed in the apparatus, and then blood is supplied onto this biosensor, whereby the blood sugar level is measured.
As shown in FIG. 11, the installation of the biosensor 91 into the simple blood sugar level measuring apparatus 90 is generally carried out by the user holding the biosensor 91, and inserting the biosensor 91 into an insertion port 92 of the simple blood sugar level measuring apparatus 90. With such a biosensor 91 installation method, there have been the following problems.
The biosensors 91 are each sold, for example, in a state individually housed in packaging comprising a laminated aluminum sheet. In this case, to install a biosensor 91 in the simple blood sugar level measuring apparatus 90, first the biosensor 91 must be removed from the packaging. This operation must be carried out every time the blood sugar level is to be measured, which is troublesome, and is inconvenient in particular for people with failing eyesight or elderly people.
The biosensor 91 is of a chip shape with a width dimension of approximately 0.5 to 1 cm and a length dimension of approximately 2 to 5 cm, and the insertion port 92 of the simple blood sugar level measuring apparatus 90 has an opening portion of a size corresponding to the cross section of the biosensor 91. The operation of inserting the biosensor 91 into the insertion port 92 is thus not necessarily easy, being inconvenient in particular for people with failing eyesight or elderly people.